Ateneo Lady Eagles, NU Lady Bulldogs go for second straight win

WINNERS in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 79 women’s volleyball debuts last weekend, the Ateneo Lady Eagles and National University Lady Bulldogs go for their second straight win as they collide in the main game today at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Set for 4 p.m., Ateneo and NU are out to establish early tournament momentum from the game and take the lead in the standings in the young season.

Ateneo had a rousing debut on Saturday, beating the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses in straight sets, 25-21, 25-21 and 25-22.

Playing their first game in the post-Alyssa Valdez era, the Lady Eagles relied on a total team effort to stave off a spirited challenge from the Tigresses.

Outside hitter Jhoana Maraguinot topscored for Ateneo in the win with 15 points, 12 off kills, while comebacking Michelle Morente and Katrina Tolentino had solid outings as well with nine and eight points, respectively.

Setter and skipper Jia Morado, meanwhile, had 45 excellent sets.

“I think people expected us to have jitters and everything. But at the end of the game, all the things we put in training paid off and we held our own. Hopefully in the following games we continue to improve as a team and play well,” said Morado, who spoke on behalf of the Tai Bundit-coached team after their win.

JITTERY START

While they did not have a seamless start as Ateneo, NU still managed to deliver when it mattered the most in their openingday match on Saturday against a much-improved University of the East Lady Warriors.

The Lady Bulldogs bucked a slow start to hack out a four-set win over the Lady Warriors, 1825, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-13.

While he was happy to have come up with a win, NU coach Roger Gorayeb said their victory left much to be desired and underscored the need for them to shape up if they want to go deeper in the tournament.

“We have been playing well in our practices and I don’t know what happened today. We cannot play like this if we want to go to the finals. Competition in the UAAP this season is very tough and we have to play at our best each time we take the floor,” a visibly concerned Gorayeb said following their win.

Jaja Santiago led NU with 21 points in their win over UE while Jorelle Singh added 12 hits.

“In our next game against Ateneo, we have to step up because Ateneo’s confidence is very high now and they have good players there,” Mr. Gorayeb said.

Serving as appetizer for the Ateneo- NU game today is the match between the Adamson Lady Falcons (0-1) and Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws (0-1) at 2 p.m. —